Summary

We may not give much thought to the boxes in our freezers or the cans on our shelves, but behind the story of food preservation is the history of civilization itself. The development of portable, preserved food enabled the great explorers to travel into the unknown and gradually map the planet, facilitated the conquest of new territories, and created routes for the expansion of trade and the exchange of knowledge and culture that opened up our world. InPickled, Potted, and Canned,author Sue Shephard weaves together the stories of the inventors -- and inventions -- in a lively and richly detailed narrative that spans centuries and continents. It is a tale filled with extraordinary characters, old legends, and new revelations: how Attila the Hun and his men ''gallop cured'' their meat; how cooks became chemists and chemists became cooks and how some even lost their lives, like seventeenth-century statesman and philosopher Francis Bacon, whose death was caused by an experiment with a frozen chicken. From the primitive techniques of drying and salting to the latest methods that have allowed us to feed men in space,Pickled, Potted, and Cannedgives us fascinating insights into the histories, cultures, and ingenuity of people inventing new ways to ''cheat the seasons.''

Author Bio

Sue Shephard has spent most of her career working in television in England, where she was responsible for creating, among other programs, three series about food and culture with Dorinda Hafner, with whom she co-wrote United Tastes of America. Pickled, Potted, and Canned was nominated for the 2001 IACP Jane Grigson Award, which recognizes scholarship in food writing. Shephard lives in the southwest of England with her husband and two grown children.

We may not give much thought to the boxes in our freezers or the cans on our shelves, but behind the story of food preservation is the history of civilization itself. The development of portable, preserved food enabled the great explorers to travel into the unknown and gradually map the planet, facilitated the conquest of new territories, and created routes for the expansion of trade and the exchange of knowledge and culture that opened up our world. InPickled, Potted, and Canned,author Sue Shephard weaves together the stories of the inventors -- and inventions -- in a lively and richly detailed narrative that spans centuries and continents. It is a tale filled with extraordinary characters, old legends, and new revelations: how Attila the Hun and his men ''gallop cured'' their meat; how cooks became chemists and chemists became cooks and how some even lost their lives, like seventeenth-century statesman and philosopher Francis Bacon, whose death was caused by an experiment with a frozen chicken. From the primitive techniques of drying and salting to the latest methods that have allowed us to feed men in space,Pickled, Potted, and Cannedgives us fascinating insights into the histories, cultures, and ingenuity of people inventing new ways to ''cheat the seasons.''

Sue Shephard has spent most of her career working in television in England, where she was responsible for creating, among other programs, three series about food and culture with Dorinda Hafner, with whom she co-wrote United Tastes of America. Pickled, Potted, and Canned was nominated for the 2001 IACP Jane Grigson Award, which recognizes scholarship in food writing. Shephard lives in the southwest of England with her husband and two grown children.

Summary

We may not give much thought to the boxes in our freezers or the cans on our shelves, but behind the story of food preservation is the history of civilization itself. The development of portable, preserved food enabled the great explorers to travel into the unknown and gradually map the planet, facilitated the conquest of new territories, and created routes for the expansion of trade and the exchange of knowledge and culture that opened up our world. InPickled, Potted, and Canned,author Sue Shephard weaves together the stories of the inventors -- and inventions -- in a lively and richly detailed narrative that spans centuries and continents. It is a tale filled with extraordinary characters, old legends, and new revelations: how Attila the Hun and his men ''gallop cured'' their meat; how cooks became chemists and chemists became cooks and how some even lost their lives, like seventeenth-century statesman and philosopher Francis Bacon, whose death was caused by an experiment with a frozen chicken. From the primitive techniques of drying and salting to the latest methods that have allowed us to feed men in space,Pickled, Potted, and Cannedgives us fascinating insights into the histories, cultures, and ingenuity of people inventing new ways to ''cheat the seasons.''

Author Bio

Sue Shephard has spent most of her career working in television in England, where she was responsible for creating, among other programs, three series about food and culture with Dorinda Hafner, with whom she co-wrote United Tastes of America. Pickled, Potted, and Canned was nominated for the 2001 IACP Jane Grigson Award, which recognizes scholarship in food writing. Shephard lives in the southwest of England with her husband and two grown children.